How do surgeons stop people dying from blood loss during surgery?
In: Biology
It depends on the type of surgery and where the surgeons going to be cutting, but they will specifically plan the surgery to try to avoid any major arteries/veins so they never start having huge amounts of blood loss to begin with.
Then, to stop the inevitable local blood loss they can do things as simple as packing the sides of the incision for to just shortly staunch the blood flow.
If the surgery is happening on an extremity (outer arms/legs) it’s possible they might use a tourniquet to cus off blood flow to that extremity for a short while. Though this is rare because using a tourniquet can be dangerous to the health of the tissue as you’re basically suffocating it.
They can also Cauterize any blood vessels the do end up cutting and can’t avoid. Which basically means burning the hole that’s bleeding closed, as burning the tissue close to instantly creates a form a scab the body can naturally break down later.
And remember two things, your body can survive after losing a decent amount of blood, a couple pints for sure. Remember how many people don’t feel any different after donating a pint of blood. Which leads me to my second point, the doctors are always on standby to pump in extra blood or fluids if there’s a danger you could be losing too much, they’re ready to refill what you’re losing in an emergency
They have special tools, called clamps, that they use to pinch artery’s and vein’s closed.
They also have bags of blood, that people have donated, that they pump into you.
Oh yeah so many seasons from Greys Anatomy time to shine!! They clamp off blood tubes while they work. They also have bags of blood handy incase they have a bleeder. I’m sure people will have more detailed explanations then me! Go Greys!!
Also, if bleeding is unavoidable for the procedure, there exist devices called cell salvagers, which basically gather up the blood you’re bleeding out and put it back in you.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraoperative_blood_salvage
Latest Answers